Literature Review

Is moral adequacy possible in the face of structural disadvantage? The experiences of health and social care staff in supporting homeless people using substances at the end of life Palliative Care and Social Practice; by Gary Witham https, Gemma Anne Yarwood, Sarah Galvani, Lucy Webb, and Sam Wright; 11/26/25 Background: Homeless people using substances at the end-of-life face many challenges in accessing and receiving good care. These can relate to poor interdisciplinary working by health and social care practitioners, stigma and structural disadvantage. Results: The data analysis resulted in three key discourse positions relating to how practitioners position themselves in relation to the practice challenges of supporting homeless people using AODs and approaching end of life. These were as follows: (i) what constitutes a good death and where, (ii) the limitations of professional boundaries and (iii) maintaining moral adequacy in the face of traumatic death.

[Asia] Bridging paediatric palliative care across Asia ehospice; 12/16/25 Global Treehouse and Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN) partnered together for dramatic expansion of the Magnify Tool to make impacts for children’s palliative care providers during 2025. We culminated our work together at the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) conference in Manila, Philippines. Co-hosted by our organisations, we presented about the power of using the Magnify Tool, a resource designed for and by providers to use their own data to improve the quality of care they offer to children and families with palliative care needs. 

[Europe] Muslims often don’t trust palliative care. A new charity aims to change that  Hyphen; by Weronika Stryzyzynska; 12/15/25 Al-Amal, founded by a doctor and a chaplain, is informed by the Muslim view of a good death — something they say is lacking in mainstream care. A new charity to support Muslims navigating palliative care is preparing to launch after Ramadan. As well as providing an emotional support telephone line, Al-Amal will also offer practical advice on accessing culturally and religiously appropriate care.  The Muslim view of what a good death looks like is informed by values beyond the medical. … This can affect the way Muslim patients include their families in the decision-making process or their approach to pain management.

Countdown to 2026: New Year changes in telehealth impacting Medicare providersJD Supra; by Christopher Guthrie, Kenya Hagans, Shamika Mazyck, Aaron Sagedahl, Quarles & Brady LLP; 12/16/25 The manner in which services are provided via telehealth has the potential to look very different for healthcare providers—particularly those providing services to Medicare patients—in 2026. ...

Perceptions of family caregiving change across demographic lines Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 12/12/25 Family caregiver burden may be falling heavier on the shoulders of certain demographic groups compared to others, a new survey has found. Perceptions of family caregiver roles and responsibilities vary vastly across different age groups, geographic regions and genders, a new survey from BURD Home Health has found. Survey responses were analyzed by demographics such as gender, income, age and geographic location. Among the main goals was to identify patterns and disparities in how caregiving duties are perceived and distributed, according to Justin Colline, director of marketing at BURD Home Health.Editor's Note: Key findings from the source survey include ..

Palliative and hospice care in prostate cancer: A scoping review Urologic Oncology; by Andrew Glaza, Aidan Kennedy, Minhaj Jabeer, Siddharth Ramanathan, Agyeiwaa Obeng, Bernadette Zwaans, Jason Hafron; Jan 2026 Advanced prostate cancer presents therapeutic and prognostic challenges at the end of life. Palliative and hospice care improve quality of life, reduce hospitalizations, and enhance patient-centered decision-making. ...  On average, 40.4% of patients received palliative care, 14.74% hospice, and 1.3% received both. Early integration was associated with better quality of life, fewer hospital admissions, reduced aggressive interventions, and increased cost savings. Most referrals occurred late in the disease trajectory. ... Future research should focus on barriers to timely referral and evaluate their effects on clinical and economic outcomes in prostate cancer.

FMOL Health doctor is spreading palliative care programming across system Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA); by Julie Minda; 12/9/25 Dr. Mark Kantrow still remembers when it clicked for him exactly how important palliative care is in medicine.It was around 2006, and he had just attended his first conference on palliative care, at a time when the concept was new to him and to many other clinicians. ... As system medical director for palliative care, he has been integrating palliative care programming into all nine of the health system's hospitals. This work has included educating staff and patients about the approach, assembling multidisciplinary teams to deliver this type of care and building patient and family awareness of what FMOLH Health hospitals offer.

Connecting communities across the globe: Atlas protocol Palliative Care and Social Practice; by Rebecca Newell, Juan Esteban Correa-Morales, Vilma A Tripodoro, Steven Vanderstichelen, Ghauri Aggarwal, Samar Aoun, Erin Das, Farah Demachkieh, James Downar, Silvia Librada, Julieanne Hilbers, Julie Lapenskie, Emmanuel Luyirika, Saif Mohammed, Masanori Mori, Ekkapop Sittiwantana, Libby Sallnow; 12/4/25 ... Eighteen global experts contributed to developing and validating the survey, with 14 of 15 items meeting the Content Validity Index threshold.  ... This protocol addresses a critical gap in Public Health Palliative Care literature by providing an inclusive and participatory method to map the compassionate community's landscape. The resulting data will promote visibility, partnerships and future research, supporting greater recognition of global compassionate communities and their contributions to primary palliative care.

Palliative care improves outcomes in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), with Crawford Strunk, MD Consultant Live; by Crawford Strunk, MD; 12/8/25 Incorporating a palliative care team into a comprehensive sickle cell disease (SCD) care center substantially reduced inpatient length of stay and improved outpatient pain management, according to a recent study. ...  Additionally, the study authors noted plans to continue examining the efficacy of palliative care regarding cost savings and broader applicability outside of SCD patients.

Hospice, palliative care, and care experiences among Medicare beneficiaries with cancerJournal of Geriatric Oncology; by Lisa M Lines, Miku Fujita, Kim N Danforth, Daniel H Barch, Michael T Halpern, Michelle A Mollica, David T Eton, Ashley Wilder Smith; 11/25Among 37,025 Medicare beneficiaries with cancer, 11.1 % received hospice (with or without PC) and 7.4 % received PC only. Nearly 30 % of the sample died within five years of diagnosis; fewer than one-third of decedents received hospice. Factors associated with receiving hospice included increasing age, non-Hispanic ethnicity, American Indian/Alaska Native and multiracial identities, living in higher-income neighborhoods, survey-completion proxy assistance, fair/poor general health, advanced stage at diagnosis, and more illness burden. Independent predictors of PC encounters included age 75-79, female identification, no dual enrollment, no proxy assistance, and more illness burden. Differences in care experience associated with hospice or PC use were shown for two care experience measures: doctor communication scores and doctor rating scores were higher among beneficiaries who received neither hospice nor PC relative to beneficiaries who received hospice.

Approaching end-of-life discussions with hospital patients Medscape; by Amanda Loudin; 12/2/25 ... Around 35% of Americans die in the hospital, which makes it particularly important that hospitalists are equipped to have end-of-life discussions with patients and their families. Yet many doctors come poorly prepared for these moments, leaving them uncomfortable when the conversations are necessary. “Most doctors receive training in how to deliver bad news surrounding a diagnosis, but that’s about it,” said Wyatt. “Doctors like cures and staving off death.” ... The issue is often compounded by the fact that patients and their families haven’t had these conversations, either, ...